It was a room of about 60m2 to 70m2. There was no door and there was no water above. He had no idea how he got into this place.
At the center of the room was a light beam with a peculiar shape that extended from the ground in various directions into 6 small lights that illuminated the entire room. There were some things placed in the room, including table, chair, mirror and so on. It was likely a hidden room below the bath pool that was cleverly designed as there was no feeling of dampness or lack of ventilation.
He didnât know why, but the strong fluctuation that was close suddenly disappeared again. However, it should be in this hidden room. Chen Rui had the intention to solve the mystery of the âGod-Eating Maskâ, so he moved forward. No matter how hard, he had to remove this troublesome thing from his face. (Who am I kidding! Even if itâs not for other reasons, for Athena alone, I have to take it off... otherwise, how am I supposed to kiss her with this on my face?)
The things in the hidden room were a bit messy. When Chen Rui walked past the mirror, the mirror suddenly glowed and an image appeared in it. It turned out to be an unrivalled pretty young lady dancing.
Is this the secret of âGod-Eating Maskâ? This canât be right! This unrivalled pretty girl has... blonde hair, purple eyes, slender figure, and that look... itâs actually Shea!
Precisely, it was Shea in her teenage years. She was wearing a white dancing dress. Her dance was elegant and moving, fascinating peopleâs hearts with her beauty. What surprised Chen Rui even more was that her expression wasnât the iceberg-like indifference, but a smile that was filled with joy and tenderness.
For the first time, he saw her full smile.
Perhaps because of the strong contrast, when Chen Rui saw this gentle smile, he suddenly felt lost. It was unimaginable that Shea, who was generally regarded as the iceberg princess, actually had such a touching smile. Perhaps, this smile could be traced in a unintended smile.
âI donât remember when was the last time I smiled... Iâll leave this type of happiness to Alice.â
Chen Rui suddenly thought of a sentence that Shea had said. He felt that his heart was a little heavy. Recalling what Athena had said and the sister in Aliceâs memory, she was once a very gentle girl. What turned this gentle and beautiful girl into a cold and ruthless female lord?
How much tenderness of the past still remains under that cold, ruthless mask?
Chen Rui didnât look into the mirror anymore. He looked across the room. Most of the things kept in the room were small objects. Although they were of little practical value, for Shea, each piece was likely to bring a precious memory that was sealed up.
Chen Rui walked to the table and gently brushed the hanging wind chimes. Suddenly, he felt guilty for peeping at the otherâs privacy and sighed.
âWhy!â
Sheaâs voice! It contains both anger and sadness.
How did she show up! Even didnât show anything!
Chen Rui, who was guilty for sneaking in, was shocked. His heart was tightened immediately. Itâs over. This hidden room should be Sheaâs biggest secret. Even without this stupid mask, she will definitely kill me.
Besides, in this airtight room, even Dark Will couldnât teleport out.
âWhy did you kill all of them?!â
The sound was actually coming from the wind chime. Chen Rui was relieved. This should be a memory magic item with something like a recording effect.
âThey are just my friends...â
âI donât want this kind of strength... I donât want to be the lord... I donât want to be the empress...â
In the end, it was already a crying voice. Chen Rui never thought that such a cold and strong woman would cry, and the cry was so soft and distressing.
Chen Rui suddenly thought of what Shea said when he mentioned the word âfriendâ, friend was a luxury for her and a nightmare for him. From the crying of the wind chimes, it should be happened before Shea succeeded as the lord when all her friends were killed. The person who made that order was likely to be her deceased father, Grimm, the Crown Prince, only for the so-called âstrength.â
The cry faded away gradually. Chen Rui tried to touch the wind chimes again. Some of them were laughters, some were weeps and then a firm voice sounded.
âFrom today, I, Shea Luciferâs life no longer belongs to myself, but it belongs to the entire Dark Moon Estate. I will defend this land with my life, protect my sister with my life, and recover the glory of Lord of Midnight Sunâs bloodline with my life.â
Canât even control her own life? Chen Rui was silent for a while, then he gently touched the wind chime again.
This time it was laughter. It sounded like she couldnât stop herself from holding her stomach and laugh.
âThis guy actually makes Aldas far... in front of so many people... hahaâ... thatâs so funny!â
âThe furthest distance in the world isnât the distance between life and death. Instead, itâs that Iâm standing in front of you yet you donât know that I love you... No matter if itâs true or false, these boring feelings donât belong to me...â
Chen Rui remembered that this should be Sheaâs mood after the Master Challenge at the arena and the beautiful misunderstanding at the Royal Garden. In this sentence, Shea was laughing all the time. It was perhaps unresistable at the beginning, but what about the latter?
A crisp wind chime sound continued to ring.
This time it was a sad sigh.
âWhy did I let him go to the mines like that? Why didnât I make him stay forcibly? Why? Should I bury a man that I can never forget... Shea, youâre such a selfish and cold-blooded woman. I hate you...â
âIf thereâs one day that I can truly defeat Obsidian and regain the throne, I donât know what else would be left in me...â
âChen Rui, you must stay alive... Chen Rui...â
This was about him decided to go to Mountain Xilang at the regular meeting. I remember that she didnât even ask me to be careful, but she was facing this wind chime...
The final whispered call made Chen Ruiâs heart trembled a little. He never thought that the âadmirerâ that was made due to a misunderstanding would actually move the bit of tenderness in her heart after repeated âmisunderstandingsâ. Even if was only a little, she was still moved.
It turned out that the unsmiling and ice-berg like woman had buried her fragile heart under the strong shell in this hidden room. The suppressed crying and scolding could only be released here. She could cry and laugh out loud, but once she was out of this room, she was still the expressionless, fearsome and cruel princess.
The bloodline of the emperor, the last wish of his father, the younger sister who needs to be protected, the terrifying enemies around her... the burdens that this woman carries are too heavy.
Without Athena, perhaps, he would be tempted to be truly moved. Chen Rui couldnât deny that he was attracted by that beautiful appearance, but if he were to be truly moved, it was definitely not just because of the body but more of the soul.
Itâs just that now... Iâll do my best to help her fulfill her wishes step by step. Iâll try to share those burdens not only for myself.
Chen Rui stopped touching the wind chimes. In other words, he stopped touching the soft heart again. He felt his heart sank.
At that moment, the heat of the âGod-Eating Maskâ reappeared. The sensation this time was unprecedentedly strong and the source was the strange light beam at the center.
Chen Rui tried to reach out to touch the light, but before he could touch, he was bounced back by a miraculous force. His fingers that touched were slightly burnt. It seemed to be a powerful defensive magic array.
The âGod-Eating Maskâ glowed automatically and began to emit plumes of white smoke. The white smoke contained bits of faint purple lights that wrapped around the light beam.
Chen Rui suddenly thought of something. After he devoured Glorfinâs consciousness, there were some faint memories in his brain. When Glorfin was in the battle with Lord of Midnight Sun, he was badly defeated. Eventually, he used a secret method to escape even when his artifact was damaged. That was why the mask had a broken piece on its forehead.
The injuries that Glorfin sustained from his defeat by the Lord of Midnight Sun was second to the heavy rebound he received when he used a secret method after the God-Eating Mask was broken. It made Glorfinâs body face the edge of collapse. He must absorb the power of Moonlight stone to resolve the rebound of the secret method.
Glorfin, who had once occupied Dark Moon for a while, knew that there were Moonlight stones under the Mountain Xilangâs mines. He immediately changed his escape route and came all the way to the Mountain Xilangâs mine. With the help of his territoryâs power, Glorfin absorbed the Moonlight stone below the main pit and the crystals from his territory also polluted the entire mining area. That was the cause of waste ores for 400 years.
However, the number of Moonlight stones was too little. They still couldnât make up for the âGod-Eating Maskâ rebound. Relying on his territoryâs senses, Glorfin broke the seal of the entrance toward the underground world and searched deeper into the underground world.
The area with the most Moonlight stones was the Earth Elementalâs Earth Realm. To search for Moonlight stones, Glorfin broke into the earth elementalâs territory and killed several earth elementals who got into his way. As a result, he alarmed the Earth Elemental King.
Glorfin was conceited with his Demon Overlordâs strength and thought he could control the underground world. He didnât expect that the underground world of the Dark Moon Estate actually had the one and only Earth Elemental King. Both of them were Demon Overlord, but the Earth Elemental King was born not long ago, so he couldnât rival Glorfin at first. Yet, Glorfin was wounded. Along with the maskâs rebound, he finally lost to the Earth Elemental King and his body was destroyed.
However, the power of the artifact shouldnât be underestimate. As the master of the âGod-Eating Maskâ, Glorfinâs willpower hadnât disappeared. He began to further emit the power of territory to absorb the Moonlight stone. This power also caused serious interference to the elemental power in the Earth Realm. Although the Earth Elemental King destroyed Glorfinâs body, he couldnât destroy the consciousness hidden in the artifact. He could only use his strength to suppress it, but he was controlled by the âGod-Eating Maskâ instead.
What happened later was Chen Ruiâs personal experience.
In the war 400 years ago, the artifact fragment that was separated by a secret method couldnât be taken away by Glorfin, and it fell into the hands of Midnight Sun Lucifer. According to these memories, the fragment was likely to be sealed in this hidden room of Dark Moon!
This is why the âGod-Eating Maskâ is summoned! It wants to absorb the fragment and restore into a complete artifact!
The white smoke from the âGod-Eating Maskâ wrapped the light beam. The light beam that was initially stable began to flicker with unstable light. The six corners shone a strong light, even the magic array on the ground lit up â it was a hexagram array!
A powerful force pushed against Chen Rui. The âGod-Eating Maskâ was releasing all its white smoke. When the power of the hexagram array met the white smoke, it was like a snow lion encountered fire and suddenly disappeared without a trace. However, the hexagram array started to tremble slightly.
Shea, who had closed her eyes in her chamber, suddenly opened her eyes and revealed a frosty coldness.